Life's Revelations: Head Games
by Xennie.B
Summary: Life's Revelations #? - A few of Ianto's UNIT friends see a new side of Ianto and Cpt Harkness when they come to UNIT demanding changes.
1. Part 1 of 2

**PART 1 of 2**

Michelle, Helen and John watched from the corner of the room as the head of Torchwood Three stormed into the room followed by his PA. The whole day was looking to be an interesting one. The trio were the personal assistants to the three leading members of U.N.I.T. and they were here to record and monitor the meeting, not to mention fetch documents or anything else that might be needed.

U.N.I.T. wanted to discuss the delicate matter of staffing, not to mention the Ostahagan Key with the head of Torchwood Three and, ultimately the leader of the entire Torchwood institute when decisions that covered all the locations were needed. One Captain Jack Harkness, known flirt and wild card. They'd all seen him a quite a few times and none of them particularly had high opinions of him. Nor did their bosses for that matter.

Harkness' PA however was a different matter; they always had coffee with the young man and had become fast friends. Unlike them however he was not of military background and was therefore the only person in the room not in Uniform, (if you could call Harkness' outfit a Uniform.) No, as per usual, Ianto Jones was dressed in an impeccable three-piece suit, which was in no way suitable for his job even if he was a PA. In an institute like Torchwood or U.N.I.T. even the PA's are trained to deal with threats if the need were ever to arise.

Ianto looked in their direction as he followed Jack into the room and smiled a silent greeting. None of them had seen each other for almost a year now but they regularly spoke on the phone and emailed each other for work, though often the correspondence would end on a social note.

Harkness stalked across the room, not bothering to sit he stood in front of the table opposite their three bosses and without so much as a hello let rip, "What the fuck were you idiot's thinking!?"

Ianto didn't even bat an eyelid but their bosses looked about ready to explode; Helen's boss, Brigadier McCarthy, was completely red in the face, a colour to match his temper.

"Captain Harkness... you can't just."

"Oh Can't I?! Who's fucking brilliant idea was it to turn this planet into a giant explosion? Nuclear Warheads positioned to tear this planet apart? I want them disabled within the week. You do not have the authority to go behind my back or any one else's for that matter and create a plan that will destroy the whole damn planet when you think nothing else can be done!" he fumed slamming his hands down on the table so he was leaning threateningly over their bosses.

"You have no right to question our judgment, your track record is hardly perfect." John's boss, General Plith, snorted sitting back in his chair arms crossed as he glared at the Captain.

"I might not be a saint and play by your rules all the time but I get the job done and save the planet in the process! Where the hell where you three during the Stolen Earth incident? Cause I sure as hell didn't see any of you on the Dalek Crucible working with the Doctor to save the planet like I was," The three commanders bristled but were cut off before they could begin to retort, "I want it disabled, and if I have to contact the Doctor and call him back to do the job he's not going to be happy."

"Don't threaten us with the Doctor, Captain, we have better connections with him than you do," McCarthy snorted.

"You want to bet? What's his phone number?" Harkness smirked.

"The Doctor doesn't carry anything as primitive as a phone," Michelle's boss, General Carson, replied though his voice sounded a little uncertain.

"Wrong," Harkness said holding his hand up and without further prompting Ianto placed a mobile phone in it. The captain hit a number on speed dial placing it on the table between them and smirking when the phone was answered by a voice that had everyone in the room but Harkness, and Ianto who was already standing tall, straighten into attention.

"Ello Jack, how'd it go with U.N.I.T.?" Came the Doctor's voice through the speaker

"I'm working on it Doc, would you like to say hello? You're on speaker." Harkness replied still smirking at the commanders.

"Who'm I talking to then?" The Doctor asked.

"General Carson, Brigadier McCarthy and General Plith, plus we've all got our PA's here."

"Jack you don't have a.... Oh, hello Mr. Jones,"

"Doctor," Ianto smiled.

"Hmmm, No Alistair or Benton... I miss those two, they were such fun."

"Doc on topic," Harkness prompted. The familiarity with which he spoke to the Doctor was clearly disturbing the commanders.

"Right then, I hope you're taking the Captain's and my advice about removing that foolish project."

"Doctor we can't just," Carson replied.

"Of course you can. You three are running the place at the moment aren't you? I'm sure you can work it out."

"Of course sir." Plith grumbled and if the Doctor noticed his tone he didn't show it.

"Very good then, I'll be off; people to see things to run from. Oh and Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I want an invitation to the big day. You can't expect me to be witness if you don't send me an invite," The Doctor said happily.

"I'll make sure you get it sir," Ianto replied still standing completely unruffled behind his boss.

"Excellent," The Doctor replied and then the dial tone echoed around the room as the Doctor hung up leaving the room in shunned silence around a very smug Captain Harkness.

"Well Gentlemen. I'll be on my way now. But I'll be in town at the Hilton Hotel for the week to make sure you keep your word," Harkness said making his way to the door, Ianto right behind him like always. But Harknesss hadn't finished he stopped in the door and turned back to the three furious commanders. "Oh and to fill out any paperwork I might need, Dr. Jones is transferring to Torchwood and that is not up for negotiation," he stated before sweeping through the door.

* * *

Michelle, Helen and John sat having afternoon tea at their favourite cafe, just round the corner from U.N.I.T. headquarters in London.

"Every time Harkness comes here it always ends in Chaos for the rest of the base," John said his distaste for the man clear in his tone.

"He's such an arrogant shit, he pisses off every boss on the base leaving them to take out their on the rest of us and still gets practically everything he wants," Helen agreed stirring her coffee.

"How does he do that? It's not like his ranks that high," Michelle asked.

"Rank or no rank he still runs Torchwood and since Ms Hartman screwed up he's got the entire Institute under his belt," John snorted taking a bite of his doughnut

"No wonder he's so arrogant," Michelle replied.

"You've heard the rumours right?" Helen asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, but which ones are you referring to at the moment." John replied around the doughnut in his mouth causing the girls to throw him a slightly disgusted look.

"Exactly there are the ones about him being a complete mad hatter and loose cannon," Helen replied.

"And the ones that he'll flirt and shag anything that's good looking enough whether it be male, female or alien," John added making sure he'd swallowed first this time.

"I heard he'd shagged and blackmailed the prime minister and that's why she favours him so much," Michelle whispered so they weren't overheard by the surrounding tables; bad mouthing the prime minister wasn't the best thing to do when you're a U.N.I.T. operative on a coffee break, if the wrong person overheard they'd be in all sorts of trouble.

"No the other rumours; about just how long he's been around," Michelle prompted.

"They're not rumours, the proof right there in the paperwork; he's been working for Torchwood longer than any of us have been alive and he doesn't age a day," John shrugged having worked in archives for a while before being promoted to his current position.

"So what is he?" Michelle asked confused having not heard that rumour before now.

"Well he's either an alien or a human that's been messed with by alien technology or something," Michelle shrugged.

"That's just creepy," Helen muttered.

"I'm just glad he's not my boss," John said.

"Poor Ianto, I'd hate to have his job. I wonder why he hasn't quit, maybe Harkness has something on him," Michelle said biting her lip a little in worry for her friend.

"Maybe... hey, we should invite him out with us tonight," Helen suggested.

"That's brilliant, Harkness said he's in town for the week so of course Ianto's going to have to stay with him," John agreed planning to ring Ianto the moment they got to base to ask him to come out with them.


	2. Part 2 of 2

**PART 2 of 2**

John checked the piece of paper in his hand before looking at the number on the door of the hotel suite they were standing in front of.

"This is the room Ianto gave me," he said to the girls pulling his hand back to knock. They waited patiently as noises from the inside told the someone was on their way. Their eyes widened in shock however when a grinning Jack Harkness dressed in sweats and a T-shirt opened the door.

"See I knew I'd recognize you when I saw you, Ianto said I wouldn't have a clue. Come in," Harkness said stepping back and gesturing for them to enter the suite.

"Captain Harkness Sir, Sorry we were under the impression that this was Mr. Jones' suite," Michelle stuttered a little.

Jack looked at the three terrified faces before him and sighed, sometimes he really hated playing the bastard, "It is Ianto's room, he'd still getting ready his mam called and he can't seem to get her off the phone. Now stop looking like I'm about to bite your heads off. You can either come in and make yourselves comfortable or you can wait out here in the hallway it's up to you," Jack said turning and heading back into the suite where he made himself comfortable on the Sofa. The other's stared at the open door for a moment not sure what to do.

"Do you think he keeps Ianto working after hours?" Helen asked.

"Either that or he keeps him on a really short leash," John replied.

"I can hear you, you know. I'm not actually that bad, Ianto has just as much of a home life as I do," Jack called from the room. The trio blushed bright red before moving into the suite and closing the door, though they continued to stand against the wall to one side rather than come in and take a seat.

"Do you want a drink while you wait?" Jack asked glancing over the sofa at them where they all straightened into an almost salute and replied with 'no thank you sir'

Jack sighed and turned around on the sofa so he could face them properly.

"Please this is ridiculous, I'm not a bastard even if I act it when you're bosses need a kick up the ass. You've all seen me at U.N.I.T. more than once am I right?"

Helen took a deep breath before looking Jack in the eyes "Permission to speak freely sir?"

"You don't have to ask," Jack replied.

"We've all seen you at U.N.I.T. over the years and from what we've seen you're a cocky, arrogant git who wants to control everything," Helen replied and the other two looked like they were about to pass out from shock.

"Feisty, Ms. Todd, I like that. But let me ask you something: the occasions when I was as you so brilliantly put it 'a cocky, arrogant git' was I right?"

"Excuse me?" she asked in confusion.

"When I was harassing your bosses was I right and were they to proud to admit it until I hammered some sense into them?"

The trio was silent as they thought back and after exchanging a few surprised looks before Helen answer

"Yes, you were."

"That's why I'm the bastard, it's the only way they see reason. Unless I can get Alistair, who almost always agrees with me, to talk some sense into them but when he can't then I come down and throw my weight around."

"But that's not the only thing we have a problem with you for, sir," John said gaining a bit of courage of his own.

"Oh?" Jack asked looking confused.

"Well, we're all PA's sir, we know what a crappy job it can be, but our bosses treat us well so it's ok. But you treat Ianto Jones like he's not even there. You treat him like shit."  
Jack stared at them for a moment before promptly cracking up laughing. The trio stared at him in shock and Helen was just about to snap at him when Ianto came into the room in nothing more than a pair of pants, holding his mobile phone with the mouthpiece covered. Helen and Michelle admired the view, they'd never seen their handsome young friend in must less than a suit and it certainly covered a nice body, not one you'd expect a 'receptionist' to have.

Ianto looked at Jack then back to the trio, "I'm not sure I want to know." he muttered with a sigh, "sorry guys, I'll be ready in a moment, I can't seem to get mum of the phone," he said gesturing to the phone in his hand.  
Turning he tossed the phone to Jack who only just managed to catch it as he stopped laughing.

"Your turn, you try and explain it to her. I give up," Ianto said before turning and heading back into the bedroom, not seeing the stunned looks on the others faces.

Jack had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop from laughing out loud at them again. They were learning a few home truths about the pair that they never even considered.

Jack turned his attention to the phone and talking to his future mother-in-law while the other three continued to stand their awkwardly trying not to eaves drop on Jack's side of the conversation even though it didn't make much sense to them.

"Jack where's my Burgundy shirt?" Ianto called from the bedroom as Jack said goodbye to Ianto's mother.

"You wore it yesterday," Jack called back.

"Not that one, the silk one," Ianto replied.

"I think it's amongst my shirts," Jack answered as there was a knock at the door and he went to answer it.

Helen, Michelle and John all looked at each other in surprise, this was nothing like the Harkness and Ianto combination they were used to seeing, these two were equal and obviously very comfortable with each other.

"I think we need to re-evaluate our opinion," John muttered.

"I'm inclined to agree with you," Michelle replied.

"So you're the three dragging Ianto out tonight?" came a very familiar voice and the three turned to salute as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart stood beside them.

"At ease, none of us are on duty to night nor am I in uniform so there's no need to salute me," Alistair replied as he moved into the room with Jack.

"See you U.N.I.T. lot are all so uptight and formal," Jack snorted flopping down on the couch.

"As opposed to your ways," Alistair replied gesturing to where Jack now had his foot on the table slouched down in the soft sofa. "I don't know how Ianto puts up with you sometimes."

"Neither do I; must be my charming good looks," Jack grinned.

"Hows the wedding plans going?" Alistair asked rolling his eyes.

"Yan's got most of it sorted, we're going to look for our rings tomorrow in town before I have to head back in to finalize Martha's transfer."

"They agreed?"

"They better. Evening Alistair," Ianto replied walking out of the bedroom dressed in black pants and his Burgundy silk shirt, all ready to go. Jack let out a low whistle as he took in Ianto's appearance.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ianto said before turning to the others, "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure," Helen said as they all nodded.

"If you want me to come pick you up, give me a call, it'll save you getting a cab back here," Jack said as Ianto collected his wallet and phone from the coffee table beside Jack.

"Yes you young-uns go and have fun. Leave us old men to our single malt whiskey and tales of days gone by," Alistair said a little over dramatically, winking at Ianto as he moved towards the mini bar for glasses, pulling said bottle of whiskey from the bag he was carrying.

"Hey who you calling old? There's not a single grey hair on this head," Jack replied.

"Maybe not on your head," Ianto muttered ignoring the look Jack was throwing at him as the others tried to stifle their laughter.

Alistair poured the whiskey and Jack breathed deep at the smell coming from the glass he was handed.

"Did you say Single Malt?" Jack asked and Alistair nodded taking a sip from his own glass.

"I guess you're not going to come and get me then," Ianto replied with a smile.

Jack looked a little guilty as he lowered his glass to the table. "I'll only have the one, I'll be fine to drive."

"Don't worry about it Jack, I'll call a cab to get back here. You two enjoy your whiskey, just make sure you save me at least one glass," Ianto said leaning forward and brushing a kiss against Jack's lips. Michelle let out a small squeak which everyone chose to ignore though John and Helen were staring at the quite obvious couple in surprise, they hadn't seen that coming.

"I wouldn't worry, I got you a couple of bottles as a wedding present," Alistair replied.

"Really?" Jack smirked

"You're such a child," Ianto muttered pressing another kiss to Jack's lips.

"The wedding talk? It's your wedding?" John asked in surprise.

"We're having a Civil Partnership in three months," Jack smiled.

"Congratulations," Helen smiled happy for them, they both seemed so happy together, it's was obvious they were in love with each other and she knew the other's would be thinking the same thing as they congratulated the couple as well.

"Have a good time you guys," Jack said as the group made their way towards the door.

"Well will. You two enjoy yourselves and don't wait up,"

"You know I will," Jack replied winking at Ianto as he closed the door behind them.

Letting Ianto lead the way out of the hotel the trio looked at each other. They had seriously underestimated Jack Harkness; too busy watching the façade to notice the man behind them.

"So where to?" Ianto asked once they reached the lobby.

"A nice little bar just around the corner, close enough for us to walk," John said making a quick decision for them ignoring the shared look between the girls since they hadn't actually decided on where they were going yet.

"Sounds great," Ianto smiled obviously happy with the idea that at the end of the night it would be a quick walk back to Jack.

* * *

The next morning Jack swept into U.N.I.T. headquarters, Ianto a step behind him like always as they pushed the three commanders to finalize Dr. Jones' transfer, but this time the trio noticed the little things they'd missed before. The way Ianto's hand brushed Jack's when he handed him something. The way Jack's eyes would keep drifting up to the decorative mirror behind the three commanders where he would briefly meet Ianto's eyes in their reflections. The body language as they stood and moved with each other full of respect even though Ianto was always standing just behind his right shoulder; Jack's right hand man. And when it was time for the Torchwood duo to leave it wasn't just Ianto who gave them a wink and a smile in farewell but Jack as well.

* * *

A week later they'd receive a wedding invitation each in the mail, a few days after that they all would have sent a positive R.S.V.P.

**THE END**


End file.
